Gu Qiqing listened to his incoherent words, unsure whether to laugh or cry. She pushed Rong Yi aside with effort and said in a low voice, "Rong Yi, wait for me over there! I need to ask him something and I'll be right back!"
With that, she dashed to the edge of Weiming Lake, grabbed Qin Chen, and pulled him far away.
A hint of disappointment flickered in Rong Yi's eyes, but he didn't follow.
Gu Qiqing tugged Qin Chen a short distance away to the lakeside. The two suddenly exchanged a glance, then, as if by unspoken agreement, let go of each other's hands.
The girl turned her head away, gazing at the shimmering ripples on the lake, her eyes suddenly stinging.
"I... I thought you wouldn't come back to school," Gu Qiqing mustered her courage and said. "You and Uncle Qin and Aunt Qin suddenly moved out of the old district, then you took a leave of absence from school. It's been so long since you've been back... Why?"
Qin Chen looked at Qiqing, a complex expression in his eyes, but in the end, it all turned into a sense of guilt: "Qiqing, I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"I've fallen for someone else."
"Is that the only reason?" Gu Qiqing felt a pang of pain, but her reason told her to stay calm. "I know your new girlfriend is Zhou Zhibi. Her family is well-off. But did you have to take a leave of absence for her? Did you have to move for her? You're lying to me, aren't you? There's something else behind this, right?"
Qin Chen lifted his head and looked at Qiqing seriously: "Qiqing, everything I said is true. I broke up with you because I fell for Zhibi; I moved because we've already settled the demolition compensation with the relocation office; I took a leave of absence because I went abroad to check out schools—Qiqing, I'm going to study abroad with Zhibi next year!"
His tone was earnest and sincere, and when he mentioned "Zhibi," a tenderness involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
Qiqing suddenly felt as if all her strength had been drained away—he seemed to truly love her, and he was going to study abroad with her, he was leaving...
"No, no..." Her eyes went blank, the desolation on her face too painful to behold, yet she still stood there stubbornly shaking her head. "I don't believe it!"
"Qiqing, I've let you down, and I've let down the trust your parents placed in me..." Qin Chen's gaze flickered, but inwardly he breathed a quiet sigh of relief—he knew Qiqing well, and he knew that though she was putting up a tough front, deep down she had already believed it; she just didn't want to admit it.
Though making her sad wasn't what he wanted, a short pain was better than a long one—she'd have to learn to face reality sooner or later.
Gu Qiqing's voice was so low it was almost inaudible: "Qin Chen... please, don't go, okay..."
Her eyes were misty with tears, like a child nobody wants, watching a loved one about to leave, a mix of despair and hope flickering in her gaze.
Qin Chen's heart softened for a moment, but in the end, it hardened again: "Qiqing, I'm sorry! I really love Zhou Zhibi!"
Qiqing looked up at him, suddenly feeling as if the handsome young man before her was a stranger.
She suddenly laughed: "What's the use of saying sorry? If sorry were enough, we wouldn't need the police! Qin Chen, I misjudged you! Turns out you're just a shallow, vain little man!"
With that, she covered her face and ran off.
Rong Yi came up to meet her, and seeing the tears in the girl's eyes, he felt a soft ache in some corner of his heart.
"Qiqing..."
But Qiqing didn't acknowledge him; instead, she threw out a line—"Don't bother me!"—and then slipped alone into the quiet woods by the roadside.
The woods were lush with flowers and grass. Rong Yi peeked in—Qiqing was crouched behind a blooming hibiscus bush, her head buried in her arms, her shoulders trembling slightly.